With deadlines looming, I was able to publish a feature-length story just a week after receiving data files with tens of millions of data points. Here's how I did it.
A journalist shares key lessons from reporting on the Puerto Rican government's failed responses to a dangerous disease that spread after two hurricanes ravaged the island.
At first the story of Dajha Richards' death was poised to be another daily about a fatal shooting. But as reporter Molly Sullivan combed through her social media accounts, she found a much deeper story of love and abuse.
Taken together these stories on pediatric surgery programs raises serious questions about American hospitals and the care they provide. Here are a few worthy of further examination.
While objectivity might not exist, the key is to check your biases. And recheck them throughout your reporting.
"You can’t just waltz into a community of people who are marginalized and under threat, stick a microphone in their faces and start asking them questions," writes reporter Judith Mernit, a 2018 Impact Fund recipient.
Find the people who can tell the story. Scrutinize death records. Isolate the levers that can create change.
"One of the first lessons we learned was the need for patience with survivors. We were often asking people to relive their trauma when we interviewed them and that carried a high emotional cost for families."
What happens to the growing number of drug-exposed babies? Answers "proved maddeningly difficult to tease out — much harder than we expected," writes reporter Teri Sforza.
How a reporting team overcame countless hurdles to tell a new story of how children are affected by the family violence they experience, from the time they are in utero through childhood and after.